Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, permission to formally present evidence of her acquittal by a United Kingdom court in her ongoing legal battle to recover assets previously forfeited to the Federal Government. The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, by Justice Inyang Ekwo, marks a significant procedural victory for the embattled former minister as she seeks to rely on her exoneration in London to challenge the forfeiture of her properties and assets in Nigeria.
The application was moved by Diezani’s counsel, Godwin Iyinbor, who sought leave to file a further and supplementary affidavit to bring before the court what he described as a "fresh and material development" — the former minister's acquittal by the Southwark Crown Court in London on June 17, 2026. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), represented by Mofesomo Oyetibo, SAN, did not oppose the application. Although Oyetibo initially suggested that the motion was intended to waste judicial time, he confirmed that the anti-graft agency would not challenge it. Justice Ekwo subsequently granted the motion as prayed and adjourned the matter to October 6, 2026, for hearing, directing that the EFCC's preliminary objection and the substantive suit would be taken together on that date.
At the centre of the dispute is Diezani’s suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, in which she is challenging the EFCC’s public notice for the auction and sale of properties and personal effects affecting her proprietary rights. In a 10-ground argument filed by her lead counsel, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, the former minister argues that the EFCC sought to impose "grave proprietary consequences" on her without a criminal conviction, without fair hearing, and without strict compliance with statutory provisions governing forfeiture and disposal of assets. Diezani contends that the UK acquittal is of obvious material relevance to her case, particularly as it relates to the issues of absence of conviction, due process, and the propriety of irreversible proprietary deprivation.
The Southwark Crown Court had, on June 17, 2026, discharged and acquitted Diezani of all six charges of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery brought against her by the UK's National Crime Agency. The case, which lasted five months and followed a 13-year investigation, ended with the jury finding the former minister not guilty of all allegations that she had accepted lavish benefits — including cash, luxury goods, private jet travel, and the use of multi-million-pound properties — from oil executives seeking favourable treatment and lucrative contracts during her tenure as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015. The acquittal was hailed by Diezani as the end of a decade of "unrelenting and unjust vilification," but drew sharp criticism from anti-corruption advocates in Nigeria, who described the verdict as a setback for global anti-corruption efforts.
In seeking to introduce the UK judgment, Diezani's legal team made it clear that they were not asking the Nigerian court to sit on appeal over the foreign decision or to treat it as automatically conclusive of the Nigerian proceedings. Rather, they argued that the acquittal is a subsequent and material event that should be placed before the court in the interest of justice. Ozekhome further argued that the UK judgment strengthens Diezani’s position on issues relating to fair hearing, due process, and the legality of permanently depriving a person of property without conviction. The EFCC, which has previously obtained multiple forfeiture orders against Diezani's assets in Nigeria, is expected to argue its preliminary objection at the next hearing. With the court's ruling, the former minister has successfully brought her UK acquittal into the record of the Nigerian proceedings, setting the stage for a legal showdown over the fate of her forfeited assets.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments